ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 193385
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| Date: | Saturday 14 February 1942 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Percival P.30 Proctor II |
| Owner/operator: | 755 Sqn FAA RN |
| Registration: | P6140 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Near Heol Llan Road, Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | HMS Kestrel, RNAS Worthy Down, Hampshire |
| Unknown. |
Crashed & burnt out 24 January 1942 at St. Brides Minor, Heol Llan Road, Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales, killing the pilot Sub Lt (A) David Edgar Welbury RNVR, and seriously injuring the other occupant (Royal Navy Observer, un-named). Pilot Buried Coity (St. Mary) Churchyard.
Details:
The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm operated chiefly off Aircraft Carriers such as HMS Ark Royal and HMS Illustrious, the maintenance, servicing and training were conducted on land bases with the acronym HMNB and RNAS. The HMNB (Her Majesty’s Naval Base) for the maritime element. RNAS (Royal Naval Air Station) Obviously the air element. During war time it was found that giving the bases a HMS status helped to confuse the enemy. So much so that during the Second World War. Lord Haw-Haw (a nickname applied to William Joyce,) who broadcast Nazi propaganda to the UK from Germany during the Second World War. The broadcasts opened with "Germany calling, Germany calling", spoken in an affected upper-class English accent, he broadcast the ‘news’ that.
“Our glorious Navy (The Kreigsmarine) sunk your ship, HMS Kestrel!”.
HMS Kestrel was indeed bombed by the Luftwaffe, but unknown to the German Propaganda machine Kestrel was RNAS Worthy Down. On the 15th of August 1940, a large Luftwaffe force of Junkers Ju88A-1s of I/LG1 and II/LG1 from Orleans-Bricy part of a large force escorted by Messerschmitt Bf 110s of I./ZG 2 crossed the south coast. They were harassed by RAF Hurricanes and Spitfires from 43, 249, 601 and 609 Squadrons over Southampton and the Solent but many of the raiders eventually got through. The Bombers arrived over the airfield, but such a hard-fought incursion caused little in the way of damage, no buildings were hit and eyewitness account eyewitness accounts give the damage as mainly broken windows and lights. The Luftwaffe lost five Ju88s to 601 Squadron and station defences including a Lewis gun party on a hangar, Maxim gun crews, and even a gun turret from a Blackburn Roc claimed hits on several Bombers.
The ’Sinking’ of HMS Kestrel was one of the many conflicting and totally incorrect tissue of lies as told by Haw Haw!
In August 1917 the old Winchester racecourse on Worthy Down was acquired for use by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). A roughly rectangular aerodrome of 480 acres was established with a maximum landing run of 4,800 ft (1,463 m). The grassland on which it was laid out was on a marked gradient, aircraft approaching from the North making landings uphill.
The P.30 Proctor II was a three-seat radio trainer, 175 built (including 112 IIA aircraft for the Royal Navy) The prototype aircraft, serial number P5998, first flew on 8 October 1939 from Luton Airport. The type was put into production for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm. The prototype was tested as an emergency bomber during 1940 but this idea was abandoned as the invasion threat receded.
755 Squadron FAA. Was a training squadron for Telegraphist/Air Gunnery which had formed on the 24th of May 1939 then they were moved to RNAS Jersey on the 11th of March 1940. With the German Blitzkrieg and the Channel Islands under threat, the squadron was moved back to RNAS Worthy Down on the 31st of May. During this time, airfield defences were built because of the locality of the base being so near the south coast.
Training continued after the threat of invasion subsided in late 1941 and totally removed going into 1942. The FAA had close links with RAF Cardiff (Pengam Moors) and they used the gunnery ranges at Kenfig and with ‘residence training’ at Pembrey. The airspace around the high ground of Wales was also required, regardless that the FAA flyers operated over the seas, but they still had to have the skill. P6140 mission on this day is unknown at this time, and why she crashed is also not known. She crashed on the common between Bridgend and Heol Las and caught fire, killing the pilot and severely injuring the passenger. Now within a stones throw of the M4 (North side).
Crew:
Sub/Lt (A) David Edgar Welbury 20yo RNVR HMS Kestrel. Pilot. Killed. @
Passenger Unknown. Injured.
Buried:
@ Coity (St Mary) Churchyard. Left of main path.
Wreckage:
All removed by fragments remain, which are extremely difficult to find.
Additional Information:
Three highly modified Percival Proctors, nicknamed the "Proctukas," were produced for the movie ‘The Battle pf Britain’ as stand-ins for the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. The flight characteristics of the Proctukas were not good and the flying footage was not used, in their place, models were used instead. The only available Stuka was owned by the RAF and was presented at the set, it was not needed.
David Welbury was the son of William and Florence Roberts Welbury of Bridgend. (Was this the reason why they were over the area? There are three other incidents of aircrews crashing near their hometowns. Two after conducting illegal aerobatics).
Sources:
1. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Sites%20in%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
2. Royal Fleet Air Arm Museum Database, RNAS Yeovilton,
3. RCAHMW Digital Collections at http://www.faaroh.wales.htm
4. https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1942-01JAN.htm
5. http://historypoints.org/index.php?page=bridgend-war-memorial
royalnavyreservearchive.org.uk
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2717186/DAVID%20EDGAR%20WELBURY/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Feb-2017 18:19 | ORD | Added |
| 13-Feb-2018 21:09 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Other fatalities, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 27-Oct-2018 19:34 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 24-May-2019 21:36 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Sep-2020 15:26 | john lee | Updated [Location] |
| 04-Jan-2021 20:34 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 25-Jan-2022 15:31 | Davies 62 | Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
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